The impact of the King Shaka International Airport relocation on employees at Comair Ltd.

Abstract

Relocation of businesses, particularly those that are highly dependent on human interaction, brings various consequences which usually involve the adaptation to a new routine. While some employees may view relocation as a positive change, others may deem it to have negative impacts on their quality of lives. King Shaka International Airport is a newly relocated airport that was developed to facilitate economic growth for the province of KwaZulu-Natal that is ridden with poverty and hungry for investment (Robbins et al., 2011). In an already volatile industry, airlines operating in Kwa-Zulu Natal were forced to relocate to the new airport, as the former airport ceased to operate. This brought about obvious consequences. This study aims to examine the impacts on employees and managers of the airline, Comair Ltd based at the new King Shaka International Airport (KSIA). The study largely elicited information on important underlying issues that may have affected job satisfaction, service delivery and quality of worklife due to the airport relocation. Data was collected by means of electronic survey questionnaires administered to Comair Ltd employees who relocated their work to KSIA. The results shows that there is still a need for additional assistance due to the airport relocation to achieve a high quality of life and increase job satisfaction. Factors affecting willingness to relocate such as age, marital status and family stage affects satisfaction with the airport relocation. The results may assist businesses with valuable intellectual knowledge to facilitate an informed decision making process to ensure that the relocation is beneficial for both the business and its employees.